Kronos Worldwide's Q1 Earnings Miss Estimates, Sales Beat

Kronos Worldwide, Inc. KRO recorded earnings of 16 cents per share for first-quarter 2025. This compares favorably with earnings of 7 cents in the year-ago quarter. The figure missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 17 cents.

Net sales rose around 2.3% year over year to $489.8 million on higher sales volumes in North American and European markets, higher average titanium dioxide (TiO2) selling prices and changes in product mix. The top line beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $466.6 million.

KRO’s Volumes and Pricing

TiO2 production volumes (thousand metric tons) increased 18.2% year over year to 143 in the first quarter. TiO2 sales volumes (thousand metric tons) rose 4.6% to 136 in the quarter.

Average TiO2 selling prices jumped 2% year over year in the quarter.

KRO’s Financials

Kronos ended the quarter with cash and cash equivalents of $20.5 million, down roughly 80.8% from the prior quarter. Long-term debt was $476 million, up around 10.9% sequentially.

KRO’s Outlook

Looking ahead, the company expects demand in North America to remain challenged until there is greater clarity on the tariff situation. In contrast, demand in Europe has shown improvement, partly driven by the European Commission’s imposition of duties on Chinese imports of TiO2 in mid-2024. The overall impact of global economic uncertainty tied to potential tariffs remains unclear.

Customer inventory levels are expected to remain low. However, in response to the prevailing uncertainty, customers are hesitant to rebuild stock. This is reflected in shorter lead times on orders, indicating a cautious approach to demand and inventory management. TiO2 selling prices have been relatively stable in North America and export markets, with slight increases in Europe, influenced by persistently high costs for utilities and raw materials. In response to current demand trends, the company is actively evaluating production rates at its facilities and expects its 2025 production to be consistent with the 2024-level.

KRO’s Price Performance

Shares of Kronos have lost 39.6% in the past year compared with a 28.3% decline for its industry.

KRO’s Zacks Rank & Key Picks

KRO currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).

Better-ranked stocks worth a look in the basic materials space include Hawkins, Inc. HWKN, Contango Ore, Inc. CTGO and CSW Industrials, Inc. CSWI. While HWKN and CTGO carry a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), CSWI holds a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

Hawkins is scheduled to report fiscal fourth-quarter results on May 14. The consensus estimate for Hawkins’ earnings is pegged at 74 cents. HWKN beat the consensus estimate in one of the last four quarters while missing thrice, with the average earnings surprise being 6.1%. 

Contango Ore is slated to release first-quarter results on May 14. CTGO has a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of 213.7%, on average.  

CSW Industrials is slated to release fiscal fourth-quarter results on May 22. The consensus estimate for CSWI’s fourth-quarter earnings is pegged at $2.23. CSWI has a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of 10.1%, on average. 

 

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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

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